1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical cable attachments to circuit boards and other planar electrical devices, more particularly, to terminating multiple compliant interconnects to a planar electrical device with the mating pressure needed to make a good connection to all termination points without imparting a moment force on the planar electrical device which could cause the planar electrical device to bend or bow under the force of the connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
One purpose of a cable termination is to provide a separable electrical interconnection between a cable and a PCB or other planar electrical device. The characteristic of separability means that the cables are not interconnected by permanent mechanical means, such as soldering or bonding, but by temporary mechanical means.
One form of prior art is a system which uses two independent parts to mate several cables to its electrical environment. This system uses one part that is generally soldered to a printed circuit board and another part that is generally mated to several cables. The two pieces can be plugged together to form the interconnection. These systems provide better-controlled impedance environments but are limited in the densities at which the cables can be used. That is, the cables require a minimum space between them to achieve the controlled impedance environment and thus only a small number of cables can be terminated in a given area.
For compliant interconnects, the standard method of securing compliant connectors is with jack screws or rivets or some other mechanical means which passes through the connector and applies the appropriate Z-axis force to properly mate the compliant connects to their mating surface on the PCB or other electrical device.
Another form of prior art is a system which employs removable cables that are held to the device by means of a spring. The cable has a terminal end which makes the signal conductor extend from the cable terminal end. The terminal is then pressed to the device by means of a spring and the ground shield of the cable is connected to the device by a conductive rubber ground shield which shorts the terminal ground to the device ground.